Simple electrical cables include at least one conductor, for example, a wire, or one or more strands, as well as an insulating covering, for example of PVC. Cables of this sort are generally stripped in mechanically operating stripping devices containing stripping blades.
A more complex cable, whose sheath is constructed in multiple layers, is used for certain applications. A cable of this type having a multi-layered sheath is illustrated as an example in FIG. 2. The cable 3 has an electrical conductor 2 composed of a plurality of strands. The wires are covered, for example, in a plastic film 12. Film 12 can be designed as a screening film for creating a signal cable. Such screening films can be formed from plastic films coated with copper, aluminum or other metals. Common screening films have a thickness of approx. 0.03 mm. An additional layer 11 comprises glass cloth, for example. An outer shell 10 of PVC or another electrically insulating, elastic raw material is provided to protect cable 3. Practice has shown that cables having multi-layered sheaths are difficult to strip using mechanical processes. A clean cut of the glass cloth using stripping blades is almost impossible. Film 12, in particular, causes problems because unwanted damage to the strands can occur during separation by means of stripping blades.
A method for stripping a multi-layered cable is known from US 2015/162729, in which the cable is stripped using a laser. A laser beam rotates around a stationary cable in order to make a separating cut in the sheath. It is difficult, however, to adjust the laser so that it cuts through all layers of the sheath completely and cleanly with one cut. Alternately, a partial laser cut could be made and the sheath thus cut could be pulled off afterwards. In this case, however, unacceptable contamination remains on the strands, which must be removed in a costly subsequent step, for example using brushes.